The present invention relates to a water-disintegrable cleaning article in a laminated sheet form.
Cleaning the articles in a laminated sheet form, such as paper towel and sanitary tissue paper, are used for cleaning hard surfaces in a living room, a kitchen, a toilet room, etc. or for cleaning hands or anal region.
Most of the above-described cleaning articles in a laminated sheet form are manufactured by laminating a plurality of thin sheets to lamination to provide a thickness appropriate for wiping a surface to be cleaned, applying a binder by spraying or coating to the cleaning surface of an outer sheet, i.e., the outer surface thereof, to provide a strength capable of withstanding cleaning work, and subjecting the laminate to embossing to bond the plurality of laminated sheets together.
The thus produced cleaning articles in a laminated sheet form are used as they are or after impregnation the same with a cleaning agent, a germicide or the like. The embossing not only plays the role of bonding the laminated sheets together, but also exerts such effects as that of providing the laminated sheet with desired bulkiness and soft hand and that of ensuring excellent sliding during wiping of a surface to be cleaned.
These cleaning articles in a laminated form are put on top of the other or folded and then put on top of the other before being incorporated into a plastic container, a bag or the like to prepare a final product. Such a product may suffer from peeling of the sheets bonded together by embossing when the folded article is spread out or during cleaning work. Especially, a water-disintegratable cleaning article produced by impregnating a water-disintegratable laminated sheet containing a water soluble binder with a cleaning agent having a high water content is likely to suffer from the above-described problem of peeling.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a water-disintegrable cleaning article free from peeling of the laminated sheets when the folded article is spread out or during cleaning work. Since such a water-disintegrable cleaning article can easily be disposed of by water washing after use, it has been used as a toilet stool cleaner, particularly for wiping hard surfaces of the floor and the stool of a toilet. However, the currently available commercial toilet stool cleaner comprises an ordinary paper simply impregnated with a highly concentrated alcohol solution, so that it has a high germicidal activity but is unsatisfactory from the viewpoint of detergency. The paper impregnated with a highly concentrated alcohol solution is relatively good for cleaning up contaminants derived from sebum or excreta but is insufficient particularly for cleaning up contaminants derived from dust etc., deposited on the floor, the outer periphery of the stool and the tank of a toilet. Water is necessary to clean up the above-described contaminants. However, when a paper like a general toilet paper is simply wet with water, the structure of the paper is disintegrated, so that its utility thereof as a cleaning article is remarkably lowered.
A water-disintegratable surface cleaning article impregnated with an aqueous solution is also known from literature. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 296159/1986 discloses a carrageenan-bonded, water-disintegratable paper impregnated with an aqueous solution of a salt such as sodium chloride or calcium chloride, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 04963/1979 discloses a water-disintegratable skin cleaning cloth comprising a polyvinyl alcohol-bonded, water-disintegratable paper impregnated with boric acid or an aqueous boric acid solution, and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 50600/1988 discloses a water-disintegratable paper comprising a water-disintegratable paper prepared by sticking fiber sheets partially fused with a heat-fusible fiber on both sides of a common toilet paper-like water-disintegratable paper and impregnated with an aqueous solution. In case of the above-described Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 296159/1986 and 104963/1979, a large amount of binder is necessary to prepare cleaning articles having a strength capable of withstanding the cleaning work. On the other hand, in the case of the Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 50600/1988, since a water-insoluble resin is used, the water-disintegratability, is insufficient, so that when the water stream is weak, there is a risk that the water pipe will be clogged.
Accordingly, the second object of the present invention is to provide a water-disintegratable cleaning article which has a strength sufficient to withstand cleaning work, is excellent in detergency as well as in the water-disintegratable property and suitable particularly for cleaning the floor and stool of a toilet.
It has been found that cleaning of some plastic articles, particularly toilet stools made of ABS acrylonitrile/butadiene/styrene copolymer), with a cleaning article often causes the toilet stool to be cracked depending upon the kind of the cleaning agents to be incorporated. Accordingly, the third object of the present invention is to provide a water-disintegratable cleaning article in a laminated sheet form which produces no damage to the plastic, is excellent in detergency and can give a favorable gloss to the surface to be cleaned.